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Omar Mateen
Omar Mir Seddique Mateen (1985-12 June 2016) was an American Muslim who perpetrated an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack on an Orlando gay nightclub in 2016, killing at least 50 people and wounding at least 53 in the deadliest attack on US soil since 9/11. Born to Afghan immigrant parents in New York, Mateen was a former a G4S security guard, and he was known for his terrorist links; he once claimed that he was a member of Hezbollah, and he was later kown to be in communication with al-Qaeda suicide bomber Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha. He made bayah to the Islamic State during the attack, and the Islamic State subsequently claimed responsibility for the attack. While the attack was certainly targeted at gay people, some have speculated that Mateen was, in fact, a self-loathing homosexual. He had been active on gay dating apps, even attending the Pulse gay club in the past. Biography Omar Mir Siddique was born in New York, United States to Sunni Muslim Afghans who fled Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s. His father, Mir Siddique, was a supported of the Mujahideen during the war, and the family was forced to emigrate to America to avoid persecution by the communist government. In 2006, Omar Mir Siddique petitioned for a name change, adding "Mateen" (meaning "strong" in Arabic) to his name as his new surname. Mateen gained a degree from Indian River State College and married Sitora Yusufi, a woman from Uzbekistan (who claimed that he had beat her in the past), before becoming a security guard. His jobs included shifts at the Port St. Lucie Courthouse, and he worked as a security guard for several years with the G4S private security group. In 2011 and 2012, Mateen made the hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and he also traveled to the United Arab Emirates. Mateen was a mysterious person, as he was very quiet at the mosque that he attended, and he showed no inclinations towards violence. He was also suspected of being a homosexual, as he had been on gay dating apps, had visited the "Pulse" gay club before, and had asked his friend if he was gay (the friend said no, as he had not yet come out of the closet). In 2013, he became a person of interest for the FBI due to some terrorist links, as he had been in communication with Moner Mohammad Abu Salha, an American-born al-Nusra Front suicide bomber who carried out a suicide attack during the Syrian Civil War. In addition, he stated that he hoped that the FBI would raid his house and attack his wife and children so that he could "martyr himself", making this statement during a police investigation. Mateen later formulated a well-planned attack on the "Pulse Orlando" gay club in Orlando, Florida after he was enraged at the sight of a gay couple kissing at a festival marketplace, and he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a phone call to the Orlando police on the night of the attack. He was able to acquire an AR-15 due to his status as a security guard, allowing for him to massacre several harmless people. At 2:00 AM on 12 June 2016, he began a mass shooting at the nightclub against the crowds of gay clubbers; this incident coincidentally occurred the day after YouTube singer and The Voice contestant Christina Grimmie was murdered in the same city. Mateen took hostages and claimed that he had explosive devices, holding back police and crisis negotiators sent to the club after killing 49 people. The SWAT stormed the building through a bathroom and killed Mateen, who wounded one officer in the ensuing shootout; a controlled explosion occurred, and the hostages were freed. 49 people were killed in the shooting, while 53 were wounded; it was considered to be the worst terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11, surpassing the 14 casualties of the attacks in San Bernardino, California on 2 December 2015. After Mateen's death, his father dodged questions on his son's motives, but his past record as a terrorist sympathizer was made public. Category:1985 births Category:2016 deaths Category:Sunnis Category:ISIL Category:Killed Category:Americans Category:Afghan-Americans Category:LGBT people Category:Islamists Category:American Islamists Category:People from Queens Category:People from New York Category:People from New York City